


Meanwhile, in the Future

by minkhollow



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-05
Updated: 2011-02-05
Packaged: 2017-10-15 10:25:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/159883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkhollow/pseuds/minkhollow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A missing scene from "Where and When": Claudia talks to Rebecca while they wait for the time machine to do its thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meanwhile, in the Future

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this year's halfamoon; what better time to find a way for my two favorite characters to talk to each other?  
> I am not Syfy; I'm just borrowing for fun.

Claudia’s trying not to worry about Myka and Pete - she actually trusts that HG knows what she’s doing with her own time machine, especially after talking to her for a good half an hour about the mechanics of the thing, but she knows Artie’s gonna flip out sooner or later, when he gets back from St. Louis, and it’s hard not to be nervous about that part. Not to mention, usually by this point in a case they’d have had some kind of contact with Myka and Pete from the field, but that’s a little impossible, under the circumstances.

So she has no idea what’s going on, no idea how Artie’s going to react (other than ‘badly,’ as a rule of thumb), and nothing to work on while they wait. Time travel’s not nearly as fun when you’re not the one doing the traveling.

Rebecca comes back to the time machine from wherever it is she went, and Claudia’s more than a little grateful for the distraction. She was on the point of picking up some of HG’s other stuff to see what it’s for, which could possibly go better than the Volta coat incident if HG weren’t so occupied with the time machine. As it is, having someone to talk to is probably better for everyone involved.

Anyway, there’s something she’s been meaning to ask. “I gotta say, for being out of the Warehouse for forty-plus years, you totally schooled everyone when you got here,” she says. “I mean, _everyone’s_ schooling me so far, but it’s not often that Artie clams up like that.”

Rebecca smiles a little. “I’d say he needs retired agents in his life a little more often, in that case, but they rarely have the sense to get out of the business as early as I did.”

“That and we’re _not_ talking about the last ex-agent to stick his nose in here.” Claudia’s personal jury is still out on HG; yeah, she knows what Artie’s reservations are, but HG saved her ass during that energy-drink debacle, and she can’t see the Regents reinstating someone without giving them a lot of consideration. “But still. I know you worked this case before, but you dove in fast, considering it’s been so long.”

“I’ve been determined to put this one to bed for a very long time, now. Besides, as much as I would have liked it to, the investigative itch never quite goes away. It’s hard to ignore the news as much as I’d have to, for that to happen.”

“What, like... ‘oh, four rock stars have died at 27 in the space of two years, there must be an Artifact behind it,’ that kind of thing?”

“Exactly like that,” Rebecca says. “In fact, that’s one of the ones I noticed, and I’d keep an eye out for it. Whatever was driving that, it’s bound to be one of the really nasty ones. Or, say for instance people are having a difficult time finding an international fugitive; I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find a blank visa at the heart of the problem.”

“A blank visa?”

“There was a fellow at the Japanese embassy in Lithuania, before the Nazis got there. In his last month at the embassy, he wrote thousands of visas to get Jews out of the country - the story goes he was throwing blank visas out of the train as he left. They were very handy when we needed to be in another country - I’d imagine they still are - but I'm quite sure the Warehouse doesn’t have all of the things.”

Claudia raises her eyebrows. “You’ve used one?”

“Jack and I had to spend a month in Havana. I hated every minute of it - this was before the revolution, and so before he stopped acting like a lovesick seventh-grader.” Rebecca rolls her eyes, but her smile’s more than a little wistful. “I don’t know if I was ever happier to come home from a case, but the visa at least ensured that we had long enough to find the Artifact without anyone asking untoward questions.”

“Sweet. I mean, I can see why you wouldn’t want just anyone finding one of those, but still.”

“Rather. It’s not only existing Artifacts I kept seeing in the news, though. Once you know the pattern, it’s easy to see the sort of people or events that might create an Artifact. I can guarantee you that if you don’t have something that belonged to Michael Jackson yet, you will sooner or later.”

Claudia grins; she might be completely off base, but she’s picturing his other glove only letting you moonwalk. “You got any idea how often you’ve been right?”

“Given that the Warehouse doesn’t exactly advertise its work, and I hadn’t heard from anyone affiliated with it until Pete and Myka came to my door, I can only guess.”

“Fair enough.” Claudia starts to say something else, but the lights dim, driving it out of her mind. “...Crap. I should go make sure that’s not gonna get any worse. Wanna come along?”

“Why not? I could use a glass of water anyway, I think, and that’ll be much easier to find in the office.”

It’s funny, Claudia thinks as they make their way to Artie’s office, how the Warehouse keeps filling gaps in her life. She was fresh out of grandparents by the time she was five, and she barely remembers her _parents_ ; they never stood a chance. But if she had to pick a grandmother figure, she’d pick Rebecca without hesitation.

**Author's Note:**

> The visas Rebecca mentions are a [true story](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugihara_Chiune).


End file.
